Ron Paul was greeted at his first event by a crowd of 500 and an equal number of national media that packed a downtown hotel ballroom in Des Moines, Iowa.

“This is almost like a real rally,” Ron Paul said. “This is great!”

The candidate was energized as he brought his message of “sound money” and “sensible foreign policy” to Iowa voters.

“This is different from what you’re getting from the other candidates who are part of status quo,” Paul said.

He never directly criticized his GOP rivals, but his son took an indirect jab at former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

“You’ve got conservative Republican, so-called Republican candidates for president traipsing around Iowa who have voted for foreign aid,” Rand Paul told a crowd of more than 300 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the third stop in his “whistle-stop” tour.

Ron Paul continued to not back down from his GOP rivals who have labeled his foreign policy “dangerous.” The audience cheered when he said, “This country does not need another war.”

Despite spending a great deal of effort during the past week defending his foreign policy position, a new Des Moines Register poll showed the Texas congressman’s support dipping in the wake of sharp attacks over his opposition to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

Paul took the news in stride as he proclaimed that he had “a very good chance” of doing well on Tuesday.